Honey

If inspiration struck me
I would strike back
and not turn the other cheek.
I'd write something eloquent
I'd give you a standing ovation
with my pen.
If you were a hospital
or a doctor
I would continually be
holding the thermometer to the flame.

You, girl, sing a song to me
you weave a melody
and I, boy
turn my ship to follow
the salty brine I swallow,
is your honey.

Benjamin Button

Every word I write is born old.
Useless.
Feeble and cynical.
A crabby shadow of youth.
Solomon said it best...
“There is nothing new under the sun.”

However, a miraculous transformation is in the works.
The longer they hang around
the longer they linger
the fitter they get.
After a second glance
or a third
they take new life.

And by the time you've arrived at the end
(if there really is one)
they've taken hold of you
like an infant
reaching out its tiny hand
to clutch your extended finger
looking up
with small, watery eyes
full of promise.

Archer

Cupid you fool.
You were supposed to place your shot
through both our hearts.
Rather
I am wounded
and she escapes unscathed.
Now I pant
and sit awhile
upon a rock
unsteady and feeble.
Weak
All the wrong people
love all the wrong people
You
are a lousy archer.

Chucks

Hey girl
you're cute
I like the way you smile
your hands are ripe for holding
keep on laughing
keep on grinning
for now lets talk
later we can sit beside the water
watch the sun go down
and share a first kiss.
You're more fun
when your friends are away
you're more fun
in the afternoon
the sunshine suits you
you wear it well
in your eyes and on your skin.
I'm awkward
and eager
you've got me all wound up
acting like a schoolboy.

Crimson and Whiskey

What did you think as you walked through the door?
Climbed the stairs to the second floor
Of the house you grew up in and died
Crimson and whiskey are bed to misfortune
And everything we know we learned from distortion
This place was on fire; my ears are still ringing with youth

I am hardly here
But I’m still breathing

Mystery tell me the story of redemption
But leave out the details of my imperfection
I know them all too well
This is the place where we all stop to think
Of the places we didn’t, mistakes that we make
And of chances we didn’t deserve

Color and closure are there for the taking
The place of exposure and history’s making
It’s biggest mistake by giving up on the first try
Distance and travel will be taken lightly
I’ll hide all your secrets inside if you’ll let me
Believe in a place that is known only to us

I am hardly here
As you stop breathing

Mystery tell me the story of redemption
But leave out the details of my imperfection
I know them all too well
This is the place where we all stop to think
Of the places we didn’t, mistakes that we make
And of chances we didn’t deserve

This is it
This is everything
Are you happy?
Do you like the rain?
We brought it just for you
We bought it just for you

I am hardly here
As you stop breathing

Mystery tell me the story of redemption
But leave out the details of my imperfection
I know them all too well
This is the place where we all stop to think
Of the places we didn’t, mistakes that we make
And of chances we didn’t deserve
And of chances we didn’t deserve

How did you feel as you walked through the door?
Climbed the stairs to the second floor
Of the house you grew up in
And died

3/4

At dusk I sit
am feasted upon
and disappear.
If the sky were a verse
there would be
no need for another.
God himself is nearby
I can hear His soft footsteps
in the dewy grass.
And time itself
lays down beside
then consumes me.

In the summer

I wish that it was autumn
when the bluebird's only passin' through
I wish that it was autumn
then I wouldn't feel so bad
for missin' you

I wish that it was autumn
when the winter snow is on the way
I wish that it was autumn
then I wouldn't feel so bad
for bein' gray

Spring is all around me
Summers all but found me
but I'm holdin' out
You don't know how it breaks me
or how I want to take me
somewhere far away
So I'm wishin' it was autumn
Something else to blame
For why I feel this way

I wish that it was autumn
when the days are starting to turn cold
I wish that it was autumn
then I wouldn't feel so bad
for growin' old

Spring is all around me
Summers all but found me
but I'm holdin' out
You don't know how it breaks me
or how I want to take me
somewhere far away
And then the wind will whisper
Boy you know you miss her
when you’re all alone
And what I’d give to kiss her
or maybe just forget her
I’d do anything
So I'm wishin' it was autumn
Something’ else to blame
For why I feel this way
Something’ else to blame
For why I feel this way

The Wind and the Willow

So I am free as the wind.
Does not the wind long to dance with the willow?
To kiss the sail on the mouth
or caress the grassy bosom of the plains?


Does not he wish
to bear the sparrow in loving arms,
to speak softly to the pines?
And would he not indulge the graceful nape of the maples neck
with a gentle hand?


***


Should the wind whisper sonnets
and the songs of lovers
in the most demure of voices
or rise with a furious passion
to fell the mighty
is it not still the same wind?
And is it not one and the same,
the breath that extinguishes the candles light
yet fans the forest fire?


I am alive as a gale;
lean into me.
I am as docile as the breeze
on an early summer evening porch
that summons the goosebumps;
let me embrace you.

Fishing (an afterthought...)

a girls heart is a slippery fish
after you reel it in
if you try to hold it in your hands, it will
move around
and writhe about
until it escapes
the best thing to do then
is throw it back into the water
if you put it in a bucket
it will flop until its strength is gone
and eventually die.

***


I suppose the only option then is to go swimming

Pair

Rainy day

On this rainy day
I watched futures
splatter against the pane
the results of which were
greater than the sum of the parts.

On this rainy day
I and the elements
beheld each other with contempt
and in the end
I triumphed against them.
---

Collection

I am on fire some days
with a heart that is raw
and as real
as a beggar
the bigger the better
the eyes and the wetter
they get
the further apart that we sit
If we grew up together
and knew from the start
a collection of pasts
that we shared
would the future be different?